Catch Word #65 – A chip off the old block

Are you a chip off the old block? Are you similar to any relatives that came before you? In this episode we are talking about family, and how often family members look alike and act alike. There are many ways to talk about this, and some especially fun expression liketo be a chip off the old block, to be the spitting image of, and the old proverb, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.To learn more about this fun — and long – expressions, listen here!

Expressions included in the learning materials

Sample transcript

Harp:

Yeah, when I visited my grandma the last time, she kept saying that I looked so similar to my aunt, she kept saying that I was a chip off the old block.

Maura:

Yeah, OK, good. So really the meaning is that someone, like you in that example Harp, is made as the same thing as another person, in that case your aunt. So if you think about the old block as your aunt and the chip being you, you’re a chip off the old block, you’re made of the same stuff, you act alike, you look alike.

Harp:

Yup, that makes sense to me.

Maura:

Yeah, it’s actually a really old expression. It’s been around for a long time. I think since the 1600s.